The Sparks added 6-foot-4 center Rachel Hollivay to the team, Executive Vice President and General Manager Penny Toler announced Tuesday. Hollivay, a native of Columbus, Miss., and Rutgers’ all-time leader in blocked shots with 332, played for the Atlanta Dream in 2016 and 2017.

Playing abroad, Hollivay recently joined Nantes (France) after playing 20 games for Liaoning (China), where she averaged 10.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.2 blocks per game in league play.

“I’m excited to have Rachel join us in camp,” Toler said in a news release. “Rachel brings frontcourt depth and is someone who’s demonstrated an ability to impact the game with blocked shots and rebounds.”

Hollivay, who was drafted in the second round of the 2016 WNBA Draft by the Dream, also has played professionally in Spain, Turkey, South Korea and Montenegro. In 8.2 minutes per game for Atlanta, she averaged 1.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Last month the Sparks added two-way threat Alina Iagupova, a 20-plus-point scorer in Euroleague play and teammate of Sparks guard Chelsea Gray on the Turkish Cukurova Mersin team. Previously they re-signed two-time Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard, matched an offer sheet by the Phoenix Mercury to retain five-year WNBA veteran Odyssey Sims, signed Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Ashley Walker, and re-signed guard Karlie Samuelson, a Mater Dei High School graduate.

Mirjam Swanson covers the Clippers, the NBA and the LA Sparks for the Southern California News Group. Previously, she wrote about LeBron James and the rest of the Dream Team at the 2004 Olympics (where, yes, they took bronze), Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on one leg, and had a tour reporting on city government, education and the occasional bear in a backyard.

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